Gerrans takes early advantage with stage win in Santos Tour Down Under

He’s been trying to mimic the buildup and results of his superb early season in 2012, when he won the Australian road championships, the Santos Tour Down Under and then Milan-Sanremo. Simon Gerrans remains on track thus far, today netting the opening stage of the Australian WorldTour race clad in the white, gold and green national champs jersey he won earlier this month.

The Orica GreenEdge rider took advantage of the Menglers Hill climb with twelve kilometres to go, with that ascent putting many of the race’s sprinters out of the back, and also profited of the slightly uphill drag to the line. He remained tight on Andre Greipel’s wheel when the multiple stage winner drove for the line, then nipped past him inside the final 100 metres to grab the stage.

Garmin-Sharp rider Steele Von Hoff took third out of the 69 riders in the front group, notching up his first result of the year.

“The guys worked really well for me today,” said a pleased Gerrans afterwards. “Everybody knew what their roles were throughout the stage and it’s really nice to finish it off when everyone has done their job perfectly. Durbo did a fantastic job riding the front, Matty Hayman looked after me the entire stage and then having Bling [Michael Matthews], Daryl and Clarkey there to take me into the final 200 metres was brilliant. My win today was just finishing off some fantastic teamwork…I’m really pleased.”

Gerrans knew that Menglers Hill would thin things out, but was unsure if he could win once he realised that the big German had made it over the top.

“I didn’t imagine I’d be able to come past Greipel until the very end,” he admitted. “But in the final two kilometres all of the Lotto guys were looking tired and had been working hard. I thought maybe Greipel wouldn’t be able to do his normal sprint.

“So I took his wheel in the sprint, and it was only in the last 100 metres that I felt confident I would be able to come past him.”

Will Clarke (Drapac) and Neil van der Ploeg (UniSA) attacked very early on and opened a lead of over three and a half minutes. Clarke won the first intermediate sprint at Bethany, 26.1 kilometres in, while Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) jumped out of the peloton to take third.

Over forty kilometres later the break reached Bethany again and in the second intermediate sprint, van der Ploeg got his revenge, beating Clarke.

Behind, an important sprint was playing out. Gerrans kicked hard and picked up the bonus second for third, thus ensuring that he had a small buffer over his rivals.

“Two years ago, we won on a count-back here,” said the Orica GreenEdge directeur sportif Matt White afterwards. “So seconds matter, and even those little time bonuses make a big difference to the overall at the end of the week. So if we take time bonuses when we can, it all adds up…we’re obviously off to a great start already.”

Clarke and van der Ploeg continued to try to stay clear but the latter was dropped and slipped back to the bunch. Clarke too succumbed several kilometres later, with the field coming back together before the climb of Menglers Hill.

“The team’s plan was to have one of us in the breakaway,” Clarke later explained. “The first attempt worked, which is not really that common. It was nice to be up there. But they worked pretty well together in the peloton. They never let us go far. I was hoping for a lead of six or seven minutes but we didn’t even reach four minutes.
“Possibly some teams remembered that I won in Stirling two years ago surviving such a breakaway.”

As expected, the pace was high heading into the climb, with Team Sky trying to control things. Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Hass ramped up the speed with a jump, then Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) put in a surge to take the prime ahead of Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing), Robert Gesink (Belkin) and Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo).

“Garmin-Sharp and Sky were pulling in the climb but I was in a very good position, so I decided to have a go and see what happened,” Hansen explained. “It’s a nice jersey to have but I don’t think I’ll fight to defend it. Our main goal remains to win a stage and I’ll work for that as a priority.”

Europcar duo Yukiya Arashiro and Bjorn Thurau then had a go, riding hard to try to fend off the chasing group behind. They were unsuccessful in that aim, as was a later surge by the Australian Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo).

Greipel’s Lotto Belisol team then tried to set the German up for the stage win, but he was passed very close to the line and had to make do with the runner-up slot.

“It was a perfect finish for Gerro [Gerrans] today,” he admitted. “The gearing was just too hard for me today.

“It wasn't a bunch sprint…it was very hard today, and I am no climber. I tried to go up as fast as possible, so it's a good sign that the condition is there but the headwind played against us today.”

Steele Von Hoff would have loved to take the stage win, particularly as his Garmin-Sharp team-mate Phil Gaimon won in the Tour de San Luis, but it was not to be. He had to accept third, and said he was relatively satisfied with that.

“We had really good teamwork today. They rode for me all day. The sprint was very hard. I didn't quite have the legs to come around Gerro [ Gerrans].

“The legs are going well, so we're hoping for a good week. Third is not bad. It shows I'm in good condition.”

White said that Gerrans’ win might have surprised some, but that he felt it was not unexpected. “Most people wouldn’t bet on Gerro taking out Greipel in a sprint, but it was a hard run in to the line,” he reasoned. “It was quite deceptive and a real grind of a sprint. Gerro got there fresher than Andre, and he was dropped off very, very well by Impey and Matthews. If the right circumstances come about, Simon is very hard to beat.”

When the bonuses were totted up, Gerrans ended the day five seconds clear of Greipel and a further two ahead of von Hoff. He knows he will have a battle to defend ochre, particularly with some flatter stages ahead before Saturday’s race to the top of Old Willunga Hill.

“Taking the jersey so early on has put a heck of a lot of pressure on the whole team here,” he accepted. “Already leading in to the race everyone knew that we were really keen to win here.

“I’m obviously coming off the back of the Australian championships in good shape, and now I’ve probably just confirmed that for everybody. So we’ve got a big task in front of us to defend the jersey from here on.”

The race continues tomorrow with a 150 kilometre leg from Prospect to Stirling.